Among all the teachers I worked with at Nishigaoka Junior High School, I only keep in touch with Matsunaga Sensei. Ironically, he wasn’t an English teacher, and we had never taught together before.

Matsunaga Sensei is reticent. I don’t know how he got away with exhibiting anti-social behaviour, but for the two years I was with the school, he never attended any year-end parties. Which is a big deal, given how important face time is in Japan. Yet, he refused to conform.

This made him approaching me to be friends all the more special. Motivated by the desire to learn English, he volunteered to be my personal chauffeur and took me to so many sight-seeing places. Dolphin watching in Amakusa. Dinosaur museum. 3333 stone stairs. I can go on, but you get the point. I am grateful for his hospitality, because without him, I wouldn't have experienced Kumamoto's subtleties and nuances.

Matsunaga Sensei isn't the kind to initiate conversational topics. I mean, it is not like he never asks me questions, but it's like I have to bear the burden of keeping the chat ongoing. So, it never shifts into fourth gear, because he isn’t used to my Singlish intonation and I don’t speak Japanese that well anymore. But time has a way of smoothening the creases in the chemistry between friends.

I could ask him anything under the sun, including potentially sensitive questions like his stocks portfolio and how much 年金 he receives from the pension system every month. This goes to show that when I know someone long enough, I develop a level of comfort and familiarity with him that I shamelessly leverage to satisfy my curiosity about human nature. Haha.

—————- How does it feel to meet someone whom you haven’t seen in 12 years?

Shoma was still a high school student when I left Kumamoto in 2013. He wasn’t even my student but we met each other through couchsurfing. Therefore, I can’t say that I know him well. But time has a natural way of accentuating the flavours of friendships, even dormant ones. The years dissolved quickly like sugar in my hot coffee as we picked up the conversation we had left off, with nary a trace of 違和感 (iwakan; awkwardness). We were part of each other’s lives then; we catch up on our current happenings; and that’s all that is required to keep a friendship going.

Through this outing, I got to know how much of a こだわり　(kodawari; particular about implementing his preferred style) guy he is. I’m quite awed by the man he has become. Sensei must play catch-up!